Ments



E. S. CHARLES.

FEEDING MEGHANISIVI FOR ENSILAGE CUTTERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-19.1916.

Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

IIIIIIIII IlmnullllII LA,

` Inventor ECCwToL 5. Cha/wks.

Tm: CoLlwmlA PLANouR/Ivll' Co., WASHINGTON,

EDWARD sanronn errantes, onorrrcaeo, Timmers, assrenon, nv assIGN- MENTS, T0 INTERNATIONAL JERSEY.

HARiVESTER CMPNY, A CQRPOBATION 10F FEEIDING MECHLANISM FSB, ENSILAGE-CUT'TERS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 11G, 1919.

application inea February 1e, 191e. serial karaats.

To @ZZ fin/tom it mmyiconccrn .5e it known that l, EDWARD S; Cin-mms, a citiaen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in. the county of Cook and State of illinois, have invented certain new and `useful lmprmfements in Feeding Mechanism for Ensilage-Cutters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to feeding mechanism for ensil'age cutters.

1t has for its object to limit the amount of material fed to the feeding rolls of an ensilage cutter in such a manner as to reduce the amount of separation thereof by the ensilage to a certain limit well within the capacity of the driving mechanism for rolls and thereby eliminate the breaking of these connections and 'consequent expense and delay in the operation of the machine. l attain this object by providing improved means whereby the amount of material which may be fed between the rolls is held within a predetermined. limit, all as hereinafter more fully described.

1n the accompanying drawings, I have, for purposes of illustration, shown one emliiodiment which my invention may assume in practice.

ln these drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view,` partially in longitudinal section, of an ensilage cutter equipped with my improvement;

Fig. 2 a detail transverse sectional view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, taken substantially on the line :2 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 3 is a detail view illiiistratiii g the connection between the floating feed roll and the movable feed roll.

rllhe ensilage cutter shown is of standard construction, including a frame 1 mounted upon wheels 2 and carrying a suitable cutter head 3 inclosed in. the usual casing a and receiving ensilage from rotatable feeding rolls 5` (E, respectively, disposed one above -the et These rolls receive ensilage from a longitudinally movable conveyer 7, a floating feed roll 8 being disposed above the delivery end of the conveyer and pivotally connected to the movable upper feed roll 6 by means of a link connection 9 and driven therefrom by means of a driving connection 1 0. als in the standard construction, the upper feed roll G is movable vertically in slots 11 formed in standards 12 disposed onopposite sides of the frame and between the casing ll-fand floating feed roll 8. The lower feed roll 5 rotatesnbout a fixed axis.

In my improved construction a stalk .stopping member or, iplate 13de extended transversely between the front upper edges of standards 1Q and attached thereto by any suitable means, as, for instance, bolts 111, the upper end of the plate preferably being turned substantially at right angles in such a manner as to rest upon the tops of the standards 12. As shown, this member 13 extends downward and vertically to a point slightly above the bottom of the roll G, when the latter is raised to its desired upper limit of movement in the slots 11 and is located between the standards 12 and the floating feed roll 8.

In the operation of my improved construction, it is obvious that as the ensilage is fed forward by the conveyor 7, the floating feed roll S will operate thereon to compress the charge, and this floating` feeder 8 will be free to move upward through its link connection 9, the ensilage passing between the rolls 5 and 6. As theibulk of the charge increases, the roll 6 will be moved upward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the throat then being open at its maximum. In this position it will be noted that the plate 13 is disposed in the path of butts of the stalks fed to the roll 6 and that this plate acts to prevent the entry of more stalks between the rolls 5 and 6, the butt ends of the stalks being held by the plate against further inward movement by the floating feeder 8 until the loyver stalks have been fed through the rolls 5 and G to the cutter head, whereupon the feeder 8 will depress the surplus stalks and feed them through in the usual manner between the rolls 5 and 6.

In operation it has been found that by the provision of my improved plate 13 the movement of the roll 6 is held within such limits as to prevent any breakage of its usual driving connections and that an exceedingly even and constant feed is produced, the plate 13 preventing the choking of the rolls when a too great amount of ensilage is fed to the same, and the breakage of the driving connections. and thereby enabling the machine to be operated continuously with less expense.

While I have in this application specifically described one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it is, of course, to be understood that the form thereof shown herein is used for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be modified to assume other forms without-l departing from its spirit, it being my intention to include all such modifications Within the scope of the appended claim.

lVhat I claim as new is:

In an ensilage cutter, a frame, a pair of feed rolls carried thereby and disposed one above the other, the upper feed roll being vertically movable, conveyer mechanism delivering material to said feed rolls, a ioating feed roll pivotally connected to said vertically movable feed roll and disposed over the delivery end of said conveyer mechanism, and a vertically disposed plate rigidly mounted on said frame between said Heating feed roll rand said movable feed roll, said floating feed roll having its lower engagingr surface normally disposed below the upper surface of said vertically movable feed roll and below the lower edge of said plate.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

EDWARD SANFORD CHARLES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner o Patents. Washington, D. C. 

